How To Add Stress To Your Day In 15 Easy Steps

Recently one of my cats was quite sick, and I was beside myself trying to figure out what was wrong. He was throwing up multiple times a day, much more than his usual once or twice a week hairball episode. The vet was very kind and they did some routine testing, but made an appointment the following week for an ultrasound so they could rule out certain causes.

The vet actually called me a few days later asking if I could bring Neo in. This is how the day went:

1. Get phone call at 8:45 from vet asking to bring sick cat in for ultrasound THIS morning instead of next week (they had an opening...woo!).
2. Swallow entire bowl of oatmeal in ten seconds.
3. Grab cat, stuff into carrier (with help) and rush to get there before 9:30.
4. Drop cat off, go home, and wait all morning.
5. Wait some more.
6. Get call from vet. Ultrasound shows..."something" so they recommend going to the expert at the vet hospital about six miles away.
7. Appointment is at 2:00 with vet hospital. It is 1:30.
8. RUSH to pick up cat, pay vet, then rush to next town over to find other vet.
9. Get slightly lost.
10. Get un-lost, rush down street, park, run in with cat.
11. Get there at 1:59 and do paperwork.
12. Hand cat over to nice lady and wait.
13. And wait.
14. Cat is finally returned, pay second vet, wait for results.
15. Go home with very exhausted cat, collapse on floor next to cat, and take nap.

Even though the test results did show Neo had some gall stones and an unusual mass of blood vessels near his liver, we changed his food and the symptoms went away after about four days. We also found out the hard way that our pet insurance only covered routine exams for cats over 10 years of age. Live and learn, and read your insurance policies carefully!